When I Was Young
by Mislav
Summary: After recovering from the last season events, the team has to investigate a case that will put their skills to the test... and uncover dark secrets of everyone involved. Case!fic. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

 **Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.**

 **This is a case!fic. Lots of focus on the case with character dynamic and possibly a B story in too. I imagine that it takes place somewhere at the beginning of season two. It takes place in 2012, since the first season ended a year prior. Beth lives. I may write the season two premiere and explain what happened after season one finale, but right now my inspiration is set on this story.**

 _April 14th 2000_

The room they were sitting in had been dull and lifeless. Nothing but pale white walls, ceiling and the floor of the same color, the blue table in the middle of the room, one chair in front of it's two ends, and a camera near by, that had been running. Nobody in there but the doctor, John Monk, age forty, and a fifteen year old boy, Michael Eggers.

And the question.

"Why did you do it, Michael?", John asked, again. His words echoed in that small, sterile room, his fingers tightening around the pen that he tapped against the notepad on the table in front of him.

Michael flinched a bit but didn't answer. He just kept staring back at the floor.

"You can tell me", John said, trying to sound assuring. Understanding.

Michael sighed.

"I just want to help you."

Michael eventually looked up at John, eyes wide, jaw clenched and lips quivering. Something about his eyes even made the psychiatrist shiver. "I guess I felt the need to", he said in a sore voice.

#

 _September 29th 2012_

The whole team was gathered around the table in the conference room, Sam being the latest to arrive. He sat at the head of the table before quickly handing every team member a copy of the case file.

"At five am yesterday, twenty nine year old man named Michael Eggers called 911 claiming that both his wife and sister in law had been seriously injured. The ambulance arrived seven minutes later." Beth shifted in her chair as she opened the case file. There was a family photograph at the beginning, on the top of the police report, showing the couple together at the garden party of the sort, smiling. Mike was a Caucasian man, about 5'11 tall, of average weight, short brown hair and brown eyes. Kate was a Caucasian woman, about 5'9 tall, slim, with long light brown hair and brown eyes. "Wife, twenty nine year old Kate, was rushed to the hospital, while her sister, thirty one year old Tracy, was pronounced dead at the scene." It wasn't long before Beth stumbled upon Tracy's photograph also. Tracy was a little taller than Kate, of average weight, with long curly blonde hair and blue eyes. Mick went on to studying an autopsy report, while Sam continued. "Kate had been stabbed twenty times over arms, stomach and chest, while Tracy had been stabbed five times in the chest. Kate's body was found in the kitchen while Tracy's body was found in the guest room. She was staying at Michael and Kate for a week while her house was being treated by an exterminator. Her husband and seven year old son were visiting her in laws. She and her husband had been living apart at the moment, but he has an alibi."

"There were traces of forced entry through the back door", Prophet read. "Somebody cut the phone lines too. Apparently, both women had been stabbed with the same weapon, a large stake knife found on the living room floor. There were horizontal blood drops leading from the guest house to the back door and to the kitchen. A single knife was missing from the kitchen knife set. The same like the one found on the living room floor. Kate survived the surgery and received a blood transfusion, but she is still critical and unable to communicate."

"Tool marks found on the lock to the guest room match the ones found on the lock to the back door to the kitchen", Mike read.

"And that is when the plot thickens", Sam exclaimed. "At around the afternoon that day, Michael's foster sister, thirty one years old Penny Sky, who is living in a near by town, went to the local precinct, claiming that she had heard about the murder on the radio and that she thinks that Michael might be involved."

"Based on what?", Mick asked.

Sam took a deep breath. "Based on the fact that, at the age of thirteen, Mike shot their foster father to death", he said, calmly. The rest of the team just stared with eyes wide in shock for a moment, and Gina gasped silently. Sam continued. "He tried to shoot her, too. It took them a while to check her story since his juvenile record had been sealed, but it turned out that she had been telling the truth. He was declared legally incompetent to stans trial and sent to the local psychiatric facility, from where he was released on his eighteenth birthday. He remains a free man since."

"Maybe not for long", Prophet sighed.

"That is definitely suspicious, but it doesn't mean that he must be responsible for this one too", Beth pointed out.

"They still want us to investigate", Sam explained, standing up. "And there is a high probability that profiling and a knowledge of criminal psychology will be needed. We're leaving in thirty minutes!"

Beth took one last look at the happy couple on the photograph and groaned. Some things really were too good to be true...

~OPENING ROLES AND CREDITS~


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

 **Pleasw forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.**

Soon enough, the team was on their way over to the crime scene. Gina, Prophet and Mick took the first car while Sam and Beth took the second.

"What do we know about Michael's background?", Gina asked, just opening the file again.

"Definitely not a happy childhood", Mick said, matter of factly. "Mother a drug addict, father an alcoholic and a gang member. He would drink a lot and beat both wife and the son, she was too weak to protect him. And then she would take out her anger on him. They lived in a trailor. Mother took off when he was five, so father started taking it out at Michael even more. Sometimes he would even threaten to shoot him with his gun. He was bullied at school due to his appearence and withdrawn demenaor. The school did little to stop it."

"When Michael was seven, a rival showed up at their place and shot the father to death", Prophet read. "Michael lived with the body for two days before he was found and sent to an orphanage. He was adopted two years later by a man named Jack Sky and his wife Veronica. They were already raising another adopted child, Penny, eleven at the time. They adopted her four years prior. Her parents died in a car accident when she was five."

In another car, Beth found herself staring outside as Sam began re telling the details of the first murder for the fifth time. "June 18th 1999, nine pm", Sam exclaimed, trying to visualise what he had read, eyes focused on the road while a frown appeared on his face. "Jack is sitting on the couch in the living room, watching TV. Michael is in his room, reading. Penny is in her room upstairs, studying. Michael sneaks into the master's bedroom, takes the gun from the bedside table drawer, walks into the living room, stands at the side of the couch. When his father turns to face him, he shoots him four times", he says, his voice raising slightly, a drop of sweat rolling down his temple. Beth shivers at the emotions in his voice and shifts in her seat. "Two times in the stomach and two times in the chest. Penny hears that, runs downstairs, sees the scene, screams. Michael turns to face her, points the gun at her. For the grace of God, she manages to get to her senses. She jumps at her brother, knocks him down on the floor, landing on top of him. He is kicking and screaming, yelling at her to let him go. Then gun rolls down under the TV. She punches him in the nose, breaks free from his grasp and runs through the door. She runs to her neighbor's house and tekst them what happened. Meanwhile, Michael calls 911 too. He just says: "I just shot my father. Please come over." He was found sitting on the couch, waiting patiently for the police to arrive." Sam shrugged, as if the part of his job was done already. "The rest is history", he whispered.

"It was until yesterday", Beth groaned, closing the file. A short silence ensued. She was looking through the front car window for a moment, then at the ceiling, pondering any possibility she could think of at the moment in her head. She eventually widened her eyes, turning to look at Sam. "As weird as this sounds, are we sure that he did it? I mean, the 1999 job."

Sam shrugged. "The gun was found on the floor close to the bathroom. Serial number linked it to his father. Ballistics linked it with the bullets recovered from Jack's body. Two types of usable fingerprints were recovered on the gun: Jack's and Michael's. The same with the drawer in which, according to Veronica, Jack would keep his gun. There were traces of gunshot residue on Michael's hands and clothing, none on Jack's or Penny's. Penny testified seeing him stand there with the gun that he then turned on her. And after all, Michael confessed."

Beth frowned, looking through the front car window again. "But he never provided an explanation. He just kept saying that he felt "the need" to do it."

"A lead investigator ordered a full medical examination of both Michael and Penny. Physical one at first. Both examinations failed to recover any traces of physical or sexual abuse. Except for recent, minor injuries on Michael, made while he was fighting with his sister."

"Penny and Veronica did mention that Michael seemed a bit off for the last couple of months. Withdrawn. And Penny confirmed that Mike and Jack had been arguing that night, about an hour before the murder, about Mike's report card."

"According to the statements taken from the neighbors and Kate's father, Mike and Kate had been experiencing some maritial problems in the weeks prior to the murder. Financial issues", Sam remembered. "We might have found Michael's trigger to kill."

Beth frowned at him. "Family problems?" She thought about that for a moment. "He had been abused severely as a child at the hands of family members. That could have made him overly sensitive to any kind of family confrontation."

That same look came over Sam's face. He was trying to make sense out of it all, get inside Michael's head. "But of course, not all of his instincts or habits that had kept him under control dropped", he concluded, little tremors filling his tone. "Not completely. He probably kept everything bottled up for some time, just like he would not fight back while his biological parents would abuse him, due to a fear of consequences. But the disappointment over the new family, combined with the previous traumas, it became too much, and the fact that, ironically, Jack was not as abusive as, actually not abusive at all, and couldn't establish enough dominance, fear over his son, that unleashed Mike, his anger. And he killed him." He sighed after finishing, his voice now colored with something similar to exhaustion.

"The gun probably wasn't just a weapon of opportunity", Gina theorized. "His father would often threaten to shoot him and he later ended up getting shot multiple times to death in front of him."

The crowd in the first car was, however, nowhere as near to any solution. "Why confess then?", Mick wondered, rubbing his forehead. "If he was such a violent little psychopath..."

Prophet chimmed in. "It was still his first murder. Impulsive. He got caught up in a moment. Not to mention that his sister walked in at him: he tried to shoot her, but she overpowered him and went to get help. Didn't know how to get out of it. Maybe he hoped that he could play the sympathy card."

Gina sighed. "Apparently, it worked."

#

As soon as they stepped inside the house, they were greeted by the lead investigators, detective Raymond Davies, tall and thin Caucasian man with short red hair and green eyes. He immediately shook hands with Sam, and then with the rest of the team. "The forensics finished a while ago", he said. "We told the crime scene cleaned to wait, left the house intact. I know that you have crime scene photographs, but I thought, maybe that'll help you some more."

"Thank you", Sam said. Gina kept looking around curioudly. The house looked quite nice, modest in a way, it was hard to believe that a brutal murder took place near by while the brutal attempted murder took place in there. They all started walking towards the other end of the house. stopped, turning to face them.

"The concerned husband is waiting for you in the living room", he said with a scoff, half in a whisper. "He was supposed to stay in a hotel, but he dropped by recenzly to see how is the investigation going. He decided to stay even after hearing that FBI was on the way. And that we know about what he did. I'm impressed."

Sam and Beth just exchanged a look.

#

Michael was sitting at the living room couch, tapping with his foot every now and then, his hands opening and shutting often. Mick and Sam were sitting on the sofa oppposite to him, observing him carefully.

"I still can't believe that this happened", Michael exclaimed, with shivers in his voice.

"Can you tell us once again what happened?", Sam asked.

"Sure", Michael agreed, nodding his head. He took a deep breath, thinking back of the yesterday morning's events. "I was asleep. My alarm clock woke me up at about six am, I was supposed to go to work. I...", he sighed, his eyes watering. "I noticed that Kate wasn't there." He shuddered. "That was odd. I went to use the bathroom. Then I went downstairs and... That's when I found her", he finished, burying his face in his hands and letting out a sob. "I went to check a guest house and found Tracy there...", he said between sobs. "I went back in the house and called 911."

"Do you know did your wife or sister in law have any enemies? Anyone who would want to hurt them?", Mick asked.

"No", Michael answered after short thinking, shaking his head from side to side as he rubber his chin. "Tracy was having problems with her husband, but nothing serious."

"Did you notice anyone suspicious moving around your house or in the neighborhood recently?", Sam asked.

"No, I don't think I did", he concluded before rubbing his eyes.

"No offense, but it came to our understanding that you two had had maritial problems as of recently", Mick pointed out, looking Michael in the eyes.

"Yes, but we..." He shuddered again. "We just began working things out. I loved her."

Eventually, Michael looked up at the detectives, his lips quivering. "You know about the thing I did... back when I was a boy, right?", he asked. "That is why you are here."

Several tense moments passed, with FBI agents and a suspected murderer staring at each other without saying a word, the only thing breaking the silence being their heavy breathing. "We do", Sam eventually exclaimed, calmly.

Michael just nodded his head, looking almost... relieved. Mike studied him carefully. "I was a different man... person back then", Michael whispered, avoiding to look at either Sam or Mick. Something like tears sparkled in his eyes for a moment. "Very angry, I guess." He seemed to have trouble coming up with the words. "Confused. When somebody would upset me, I would feel a need to hurt him." He sighed, clasping his hands togethers and looking away for a moment. "And so I did." " But I am cured now. I would never do that to my wife or sister in law. I love them too much." He looked up at the agents. "Please find the person who did this."

"We will do our best", Sam said assuringly. Mick sighed, looking down at the floor, and nodded his head.

#

Beth and Gina were spending their time in the kitchen, examining the crime scene. There was a large pool of blood on the floor and blood splatters at the walls and sides of the furniture. There had also been some smearing on that area, probably from the place where the swabs were taken. Beth was walking back and forth over the room, latex gloves over her hands and booties over her shoe bottoms, trying to piece together a theory in her head. Gina was standing at the side, also with gloves over her hands and booties over her shoe bottoms.

"There is no doubt that the knife used to commit both murders was the one taken from the kitchen knife set, found here", Beth concluded, walking around the scene, careful not to step in any of the blood. Gina remained standing near by, looking down at the floor, thinking over the informations that she had heard. "There are horizontal blood splatters leading from the guest house to the back door and then in the kitchen here", Beth said, pointing at the blood trail leading up to the blood pool. "For that to happen, the killer would have to break inside, take the knife, go back outside and towards the guest room, break inside, murder Tracy, then go back inside and repeatedly stab Kate, who, apparently, just so happened to stumble upon him downstairs."

Gina looked up at Beth. "Can we know for sure that the blood splatters lead away from the guest room toward the kitchen? It could have been other way around also."

"Well, DNA testings are still in progress, but preliminary analysis showed that all the blood swabs taken from the guest room are of the blood type A+, which is Kate's blood type, while the ones taken from the kitchen are a mixture of blood type A+ and a blood type 0+, which is Tracy's blood type. And the knife was found on the kitchen floor."

Gina nodded her head before crossing her arms over her chest. "Yes, that doesn't make any sense." She looked down at the floor, her eyes observing something very curiously. "Look at this", she said, pointing at the several bloody prints on the floor, "and this", she said, pointing at the blood smear on the cupboard near by.

"Looks like a palm print and a shoe print. Partial. The killer had been wearing gloves and booties", Beth concluded.

"That, according to the forensic report, matched to the kitchen gloves and booties that had been kept in here."

Beth sighed and took one more look at the floor, the pool of blood making her shiver.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I don't own any of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

 **Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, Emglish is not my native language.**

Mick was standing still in the middle of the master's bedroom, staring aimlessly in front of himself. It was a pretty simply decorated: bed in the middle, closet in the left corner, writing desk with a computer on it and a shelf in front of it on the right, a book shelf above it.

"They searched the bedroom, went through their phone records, both of their computers", he muses. "They found not only nothing that links him to the murder, but no evidence of any depraved activity whatsoever."

Sam kept looking around, finding that same thing troubling too. But suddenly he stopped in his tracks, right in front of Michael's writing desk, and the shelf above it. Something about that area had caught his attention. Mike noticed that, but said nothing: he patiently waited for Sam to speak up. "This is Michael's writing desk. There's a book shelf above it. Look what kind of books are laying on it. Mostly."

Mick studied the books placed there forca second. "Mystery and sci-fi novels."

"He keeps the manual and on his writing desk, in the corner", Sam exclaimed, pointing at the said books. Then he pointed at the one on the end of the shelf. "And yet, this dictionary is placed on the book shelf. On the very end of the line."

Mick frowned. "You think he has something hidden in there?"

Sam pulled the dictionary off the shelf and quickly flipped through the pages. Mike walked over to him, looking at the content with interest, eyes searching for anything unusual. Eventually, he noticed something on the last few pages: a hole had been cut through them, and a plastic bag with a baseball ball inside was hidden in there, laying at the bottom of the inner side of the back cover.

"A baseball ball?", Mick exclaimed, surprised.

"Maybe a trophy from his other victim", Sam suggested.

Mick shoved his hands down his pockets, lowering his voice. "Should we confront him?"

Sam was playing with the plastic bag in his hands, thinking of what to do. "No", he decided, walking towards the door. "Not yet. Let's give this up for forensic analysis."

#

Prophet was standing in the backyard next to the detective, both of them looking down at the fire pit stationated just ten feet from the back door. There were still burn marks down on the ground, and there was still that faint but recoginizable smell present, a smell of fire.

"As you see, something had been burned there", explained, pointing at the fire pit. "Recently. We took the remains for forensic analysis, it is still in progress, but I doubt that they will uncover anything useful."

"According to the forensic report, they also found a single usable shoe print here, relatively fresh", Prophet said, pointing down at the dent in the ground, remains of a plastic cast evident on it. Then he turned toward the back door. "And then small traces of dirt leading to this door and then toward the upstairs bathroom. They also found small traces of ashes and smoke fuels on the door, toilet can in the bathtub and in one of the cans there. They also found a clothes in the laundry hamper, matching to Michael's size. Recently washed, in bleach, and dried. Including the shoes that matched to the shoe print found in the yard."

"Or maybe he took of the bloody clothes and gloves after murdering his sister in law and attempting to murder his wife, put it in a paper bag, got dressed, burned the bag and what was in it in the fire pit, put the ashes that remained in the bucket that he took from the bathroom, flushed the ashes down the toilet, washed the can in that bathtub, washed his hands and wiped them and other surfaces with paper towels, that he also flushed down the toilet, probably. After the clothing was clean and dry, he called 911."

"That is what we are thinking too."

"He said that that night, before going to sleep, he burned some of his clothing in there and disposed of the ashes the way we assumed, then washed his hands and washed and dried his clothing because it got dirty, then went to sleep, forgeting to put the clothing back in the closet and leaving it in a laundry hamper."

#

The guest house was small, but nicely decorated. One bed in the right corner, a cupboard near by and the closet in the middle. Gina joined to Beth in examining the clues closely, though there wasn't much to see, except for blood on the walls, and a big blood pool on the recently polished hardwood floor.

"The body was found on the floor next to the bed. Walls and the floor are covered with blood. There is barely any blood found on the bed."

"So?", Gina asked.

Beth locked eyes with her. "She was standing up when she was attacked. Meaning that maybe the killer was somebody she didn't know. Or knew wasn't supposed to be there."

Gina shrugged, looking not convinced. "Or maybe she just panicked upon seeing her brother in law in there in the middle of the night. Or he tried stabbing her while she was lying down but she managed to move away and stand up, which is when he attacked her the second time. There are plenty of possibilities."

Beth observed the blood splatters once again and groaned. "I don't know. Something about this doesn't seem right to me."

#

Prophet approached Sam, who was waiting for him in front of the interrogation room. A tall, slim Caucasian woman in early thirties with shoulder length red hair and blue eyes was sitting at the table there.

"That is his sister?", Prophet asked, his voice low despite the fact that the woman inside couldn't hear them.

"Yeah", Sam confirmed, sounding kinda grumpy. "We are trying to get in touch with the psychiatrist who had been treating Michael during his institutionalization."

"Where is he now?", Prophet asked.

An older man sighed. "In the hospital, visiting his wife. Under police supervision. Beth and Gina are still in the house, checking things out."

They exchanged a look before walking into the interrogation room and sitting at the table opposite to Penny. "He killed them, didn't he?", Penny stated more than asked, sounding smug.

"Kate is still alive", Sam reminder her.

Penny scoffed. "For how long?"

A short silence ensued. Neither agent was sure of how would be the best way to "play" her.

"Do you know anything that could help us solve this case?", Prophet asked.

Penny just stared at him for a moment, her lower lip quivering. "I know what he did to my father. Isn't that enough?"

"No."

She shook her head. "The nerve of him", she muses, her voice a mixture of pain and rage. "He actually kept writing me letters from that... asylum. At least one every week. He moved to a near by town, close to me, after he was released. I am in no position to move..."

"Had he ever tried contacting you? After being released? In person?", Sam asked, trying to sound sympathetic.

Penny rubbed her chin, eyes watery. "No."

"Where were you this morning between four and five am?", Prophet asked, carefully, playing with a pen in his hand.

"I work as an editor for publishing company. There was a fundraiser at that "Emma" hotel. It lasted from eight pm till after five am. Hundreds of people had seen me, there are photographs too. When I finally got back home, I thought I'd catch some rest, since I had gotten a day off. Then I woke up for a few minutes pass afternoon and heard what happened on the radio. What a luck."

"Would you mind providing us your fingerprint or DNA samples?"

"Whatever you need."

#

Beth was concentrated on searching the cabinet above the sink. Gina was inspecting the shower cabin, now empty laundry hamper, even the can. Eventually, she groaned and sat down on a near by chair. "Are we supposed to believe that he didn't hear his wife or sister in law getting murdered? Sure, he was asleep and the bedroom was upstairs, but still..."

"Maybe he was unconsciousness or drugged?", Beth suggested, still concentrated on the search. It baffled Gina, how confident she had sounded.

"Paramedics recovered no injuries at him. All tox screens came back clean."

Beth turned to face Gina, holding a bottle of pills in her hand. "Michael's medical record says that Michael has diabetes 2. So this pills belong to him. I will give them up for analysis."

"He left it here?", Gina asked.

"He was under a stress", Beth explained, storing the bottle in an evidence bag. "Doctors gave him a new one."

"I've asked a local police to check had there been any suspicious activities in the neighborhood recently. It appeared that, currently, there is a peeping tom active in the area. Several women reported a man spying on them thought the window, even photographing them once, but couldn't provide a description." She looked up. "Maybe we should look into that."

#

His wife, Kate, was lying on the hospital bed, dressed in white hospital pajamas, her eyes closed shut, her face unhealthily pale. He was sitting on the chair near by, holding her hand gently and using his other hand to stroke her hair. An officer was standing a few feet away, near the door, observing him carefully, a look of his eyes somehow a mixture of spite and an undetermined compassion.

"You'll be OK", Michael whispered, trying to sound strong. His face lightened up a little. "Can you hear me? I... I've read that people in your condition often can."

He got no response, obviously. He looked down at the floor, biting his lower lip, before looking up at her, tears in his eyes. "You are still beautiful", he said softly. "You always will be, to me."

He looked down at her stomach and chest, where he knew wounds were, scars are. A frown appeared on his face. "The only problem is... you know too much, don't you?", he said in a dark whisper before looking up at her once again. His other hand brushed down gently. Down to her neck.

"You see, that is bad." His fingers laid on her skin. "Really bad..."

At that moment, Kate jerked up in the bed, coughing a little. Michael leaned back in his chair, looking scared. A police officer rushed over to check on Kate, before yelling "Nurse!"

Soon, a young blonde woman in an uniform rushed over to Kate, who had began to breathe normally and partially opened her eyes. She checked her pulse and breathing, then her eyeballs, before turning towards Mike and a police officer.

"It's OK", she said, a smile on her face. "She finally regained consciousness. It lika like she'll be okay."

An officer thanked her, feeling relieved. Michael chuckled nervously, fresh drops of sweat coating his forehead.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

 **Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.**

 **Beth used the geo algorithm featured into this story in the episode 1x4 "One Shot Kill". I hope that I haven't gotten too far with her storyline in this chapter, I know that it is cringe worthy. Hopefully the rest of the chapter is OK.**

Kate shuddered, wiping tears off her face. She was pale and her fingers were trembling.

"I can't believe that she is dead", she whispered, staring blankly at her hands. "We were always so close... our parents died when we were little, we were living at our aunt's." She let out a sob, covering her face with her hands. Beth glared sympathetically at her while Sam shifted in place.

"Why Michael has to be outside?", Kate cried. "I... I need him."

"That is in our, and your best interest", Beth explained carefully, looking Kate in the eyes. "Investigation wise."

A look of confusion appeared on Kate's face, the one soon replaced by a look of rage. "You think that he did that, don't you?"

"We...", Sam started carefully.

"You think that he murdered my sister! And tried to murder me!", Kate interrupted him, sitting up straight in her bed and groaning silently due to a pain. She frowned at the special agents. "How dare you?", she hissed.

"We know about Michael's past, Kate", Beth said softly.

Kate's lower lip quivered. She clenched her fists. "You know notning", she hissed.

"There are some... circumstancial evidence against him."

Kate furrowed her eyebrows. "And that's all there is. A circumstancial evidence!"

"Calm down, mrs. You need to rest", Sam advised. "Let's start over. You are saying that you don't remember anything?"

"No. The last think I remember, vaguely, is waking up while it was still dark... I think that it was close to five am. I went to the downstairs bathroom... we have one upstairs, but for some reason when I wake up still tired and all I go to use a downstairs one. And... the next thing I know I am waking up here", she ended, her eyes growing watery again.

"I think that we can help you remember... some of the details", Sam suggested.

Kate shivered, fisting the sheet. "I'm not sure I want to."

"That could help us catch your sister's killer", Beth said reassuringly, gently holding Kate's hand. Kate flinched, but didn't pull away. She gulped.

"OK", Kate agreed, withholding a sob.

"Take a deep breath, close your eyes and try to relax", Sam said softly. Kate blinked back tears and did so. Sam waited for a few seconds, carefully studying Kate's breathing. Beth let go off her hand.

"You were walking down the stairs, right?"

"Right", Kate groaned. "I started and..." She remained silent for some time, frowning, then gasped. "I don't remember."

"It's OK. Take it slow. How long does it usually take you to get to the downstairs bathroom?"

Kate smiled slightly. "About a minute, when I am tired."

"Where is it located?", Sam asked.

"Near the kitchen, in the left corner."

"You had been climbing downstairs, slowly... still tired..." Kate's breathing hitched. "Did you hear or see anything?"

She didn't answer.

"It probably wasn't something too suspicious or noticeable, since you made it to the kitchen, but still...", Sam reminded her.

Kate beamed. "I..."

"Try to remember", Sam said softly.

Kate felt the goosebumps trail up her back. "I... I think I've heard something but didn't pay much attention to it... I'm not sure what it was." She gulped. "But I didn't pay much attention to it and continued walking." She shuddered and took a deep breath.

"And then?", Beth asked carefully.

Tears started rolling down Kate's face as her breathing became erratic. "I... I was about to go to the bathroom when I saw something in the kitchen", she whispered.

"What was it?", Beth asked carefully, but Kate wasn't talking. Sam walked closer. "You can tell us", Beth said assuringly.

"You are safe here", Sam tried convincing her.

"I... it looked like a silhouette", Kate said, chill in her voice.

"What did you do?", Sam asked.

Kate arched her back, her face flushing. "I... I walked..."

"Yes, you walked..."

Kate opened her mouth, trying to say something, but the words weren't coming out.

"You are safe", Sam tried assuring her.

"Just remember and tell us", Beth chimmed in. "It will be over soon."

"I... I can't!", Kate screamed, opening her eyes. She started sobbing again, covering her face with her hands. Sam and Beth exchanged a sympathetic gaze.

#

Beth sighed as she closed the door behind after stopping into the hallway with Sam. "This wasn't very productive, but she does appear honest." She looked around. "Reluctant, but honest."

Sam nodded his head. "I agree." He looked through the window, at Kate lying down on the bed, trying to calm herself down. "It looks like she has a dissociative amnesia. A condition where a person becomes uable to remember a traumatic event soon after experiencing it."

Beth agreed. "Her parent's death must have been traumatic. The attack on her was brutal. And the surgeon said that she had sustained a concusion too, during the attack. All that could have contributed to it."

Sam turned to face her. "And dissociative amnesia is all the more common at the victims that were brutalized by the people close to them. The brain wants to block it out." Beth grimaced. "So Michael is our prime suspect again."

"I'm surprised that the press hasn't dragged him through the gutter yet."

"A local chief of police has a cousin who owns a local newspaper business. We were very clear about keeping all the information as secret possible. Penny isn't saying anything because she believes that Michael is guilty and wants us to catch him, and it was made clear to her that if the media were to get a hold of Michael's backstory, that could jeopardize the investigation. Or make him flee, despite the surveillance."

"I've heard that you never know with such conditions. Her memory may return in a few days, it many never return. We can only keep trying."

"That is true", Sam agreed. "She should undergo a CTR, just in case."

Beth crossed her arms over her chest. "But I do have a feeling that she knows more about Michael than she is letting on. About his past."

#

It was late that afternoon that Beth found herself sitting at the desk in the team's improvised office, going through the forensic reports and crime scene photographs again. She avoided to look at Sam, for reasons she herself couldn't quite understand. Sam was sitting at the desk near by, also going through some reports.

Suddenly, Mick walked in the office, a wide smile on his face. "Forensics report", he explained and handed the file to Sam, who opened it and started reading. "One of Michael's screwdrivers, found in the basement, matches to the damage found on the lock on the back door." He was pacing around the office. "It looks like we can officially close the case." Beth's face fell.

Sam read some of the information, then frowned and groaned. Mick glared at him. "Something wrong?"

Sam looked up at Mick, dropping the file on the desk. "Not a single drop of blood was found on the screwdriver." "Why would he be so careful instead of just disposing of it or at least hiding it even if it remained clean? He must have known that forensics will be able to link it to the damage on the lock. And, according to this, forensics also found traces of clay inside the lock, that doesn't match to any of the elimination samples taken from the house."

"I agree with Sam", Beth chimmed in.

Mick groaned, taking a step forward. "What is it with you, Beth?", he asked. "It is like you are dead against this guy being guilty. He killed once before!"

"I'm just saying that there are still many loose ends!", Beth snapped. "Many questions unanswered!"

Mick looked around and ran his hand through his hair. He couldn't understand what was going on and why was everyone so dense.

"Maybe he broke the lock first, then put the screwdriver back and went on to committing murders, starting with the guest room. And who knows where he could have picked up that clay from. Even the smartest of criminals make mistakes." "The evidence are overwhelming. Both the behavioral and the physical ones."

A short, tense silence ensued. Sam pressed his hands against the desk, his lips dry. "Let's wait for the tox screen on pills and the analysis of that baseball ball", he eventually decided. "Then we can decide what to do."

Mick groaned, looking down at the floor for a moment. "We are not delaying the investigation", Sam explained carefully. "We are just making sure."

"OK", Mick whispered and walked away, avoiding to look at Beth. Sam offered her a sympathetic look before going to get them both some coffee.

#

Michael Eggers was sitting on the bed in his motel room, reading a news article about Tracy's murder. He took a sip of scotch from a glass laying on the bedside table, his face growing dark as he was going through the sentences.

 _There are still no news about Tracy Eggers murder or the possible leads. The FBI quick response team is also working in the case for the reasons that are officially still a secret. There are evidence suggesting that their interventiom is due to an unspecified incident from her brother in law's past..._

Michael wrinkled the newspaper in his hand and threw it across the room, breathing heavily, eyes full of fury. He was staring blankly at the wall for some time before sitting up on the bed and clenching his fists. He picked up the letter opener from the desk near by and held it in his hand, looking at it like he was having second thoughts about something.

#

The next morning, Gina entered the workroom, a coffee mug in her hand, and stopped upon seeing Beth sitting at the desk, looking at the screen on the wall in front of her. The map of the neighborhood where the murders happened was visible on the screen, and lines kept moving from one address to another, numbers switching back and forth in the corner.

"Whatacha doing?", Gina asked, smiling as she walked closer to her friend. Beth glared at her briefly before turning her attention back to the screen.

"Looking into that voyeur case. Went through the files, couldn't find anything, so this."

Gina took the moment to observe the process that was unfolding. "Geo algorithms, huh?"

"It is compiling the data, comparing the known crime scenes, trying to find a connection, a pattern. That could help us find the voyeur's next target or even identify him."

"Forgive me for asking, but I've heard that you and Mick had a bit of a... disagreement yesterday."

"It was... nothing serious."

Gina smiled. "He is not angry."

"And he shouldn't be", Beth snarked, her head sinking down. "Neither am I", she whispered.

Gina frowned. "I see." She bit her lower lip and took a seat next to Beth. "But, no offense, you seem oddly... invested in this case."

Beth remained silent. "I know that we aren't too close, but if something or someone is bothering you, you can tell me."

Beth rubbed her chin, feeling herself shiver. "I wasn't a very popular kid at school", she admitted. "Any school. And in seventh grade... there was a boy in school that I... liked." She and Gina exchanged a smile. "A... nerd, just like me. It wasn't easy for us..." Her face formed a bit pained look. "So, one day, that girl, a popular one, walks over to him at lunch and slams with his head against his plate. I grabbed her hair and pushed her away. She fell down and sprained her ankle. Said that I attacked her for no reason", Beth said, tremors filling her voice. "Everyone believed her. Even my parents. I was suspended from school for a week. I knew the truth, but everyone else was lying, so that became the truth."

Beth shuddered and leaned back in her chair. She looked up at the screen to check the results, but couldn't concentrate.

"So, from that time on, whenever they couldn't find something or thought that something was suspicious, they would blame me. No matter how much would I defend myself, somehow they would end up on the top again. I couldn't even raise a voice during an argument without getting punished. I can't even comprehend it. It would always turn out to be not my fault and sometimes they would even apologize to me, but the accusations didn't stop, all because off one moment of weakness years ago that I have been regretting ever since, and that had been in even necessary in a way." She was talking quickly, like she was afraid that somebody would interrupt her before she was able to get everything off her chest. "None of the teachers or the students were looking at me the same way since, despite the fact most of them had seen what really happened." She sighed, a single tear rolling down her face. "Luckily, my parents kept growing more and more busy as I was growing up so the accusations decreased too... I almost came to miss them. And I was so happy once I enrolled in High school... not that it was much better there though." She whined in frustration "I know that this is stupid and unprofessional and weird but I can't help myself."

She almost gasped as Gina wrapped her into a hug, stroking her shoulders slightly. Beth's demeanor was rigid at first, eventually she felt herself getting more relaxed Abd reciproated the hug. There was no words or explanation needed.

Until a "beep" sound was heard, and both women turned toward the screen, a very interesting conclusion being displayed on it.

"Wait a second... the voyeur has a type", Beth deduced. The houses in the more isolated areas in the neighborhood, close to the near by town." She took a moment to absorb all of the info. "If we count Michael's house too, he was active in all of those houses where a woman lived, except in one."

Gina went through the files. "Twenty seven year old Haley Just lives there with her brother, twenty eight year old Zack." She frowned. "Maybe he was stalking Haley too and she and her brother just didn't notice."

Beth reached for her phone and dialed Penelope's number. Penelope answered after a second ring.

"Beth, my girl, show me what you got!", Penelope taunted cheerfully.

Beth chuckled despite herself. "Penelope! Find out all you can about Zack Justi and see is there any connection between him and Mike and Kate Eggers or the reported victims of voyeurusm in the area where he lived."

Penelope immediately started searching, the only thing Beth and Gina could hear at first being their friend typing away something in an incredible speed. "Alright...", Penelope mumbled. "Grew up in San Francisco, has a record for petty theft and... works at a local pizza place, he had been delivering pizza several times to both Michael Eggers and one of the reported voyeur'a victims."

"That is why the voyeur never targeted that house."

"Because that was his home."

#

Zack was tapping his foot nervously and looking around the interrogation room he was in, occasionally glaring suspiciously towards a camera near by, that was running. When Beth and Prophet walked inside, he leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. They sat at the table opposite to him, laying the files that they had been holding in their hand on the desk in front of him.

"You're in trouble, Zack", Prophet exclaimed, kund of smugly. He opened the file. It was filled with photographs of semi naked women, obviously taped secretly, from the outside. Zack gulped upon seeing the photographs, and Prophet and Beth smirked. "We found this photographs in your house. They look ilegally obtained."

Zack was breathing heavily, drops of sweat rolling down his forehead. "You think that I committed that murder a few days ago, right?"

Prophet smirked. "I see that you are up to speed."

"You have photographs of both victims too", Beth pointed out. She pulled out two photographs from the file, showing Kate in the living room wearing only her T-shirt and panties and one showing Tracy in the bathroom naked from the waist up, with only a towel covering her nether region, and pointed to the dates in the corner. "The latest ones taken two days before the murder."

"I have already provided an alibi", Zack cried. "I heard on the news that the murder happened early in the morning. I was at work that day, worked double shift. You can check." He looked down at the floor in shame. "I only like to watch. That's all."

Beth shifted in her seat. "Then maybe you've seen something. Or somebody. Suspicious, moving around the Eggers's home."

Zack looked up, a faint hope on his face. "I... I think that I saw a car driving by one night. While leaving."

"What kind of a car?", Beth asked.

Zack grew worried. "A... a dark one."

Prophet groaned. "Can you remember anything else? Made, model, licence plates, the driver?"

"I can't remember anything else. I was in a hurry. Still... thrilled."

Beth leaned over and lowered her voice. "An innocent man may take a fall for the crime he didn't commit", she said, trying to sound as serious possible. "Do you understand that?"

"I didn't kill anyone!", Zack cried. "And that is all I know! I swear!"

The door creaked open. Sam peeked in. "Beth..."

She stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind. She and Sam walked into the corner. He looked her in the eyes, holding tightly at the file in his hand.

"Zack's alibi checks out. Forensics found no blood on any of his clothing or inside the car."

Beth sighed. "What about the pills?"

"Nothing suspicious on them. All usable fingerprints found on the bottle match to Michael."

"They recovered two different DNA profiles on that baseball ball. One matches to Michael. The other one is more degrated, but still usable. It doesn't match to any of the elimination samples taken during the investigation and there are no matches in the missing persons database, but there is a partial match in CODIS."

Beth glared at him. "A partial one?"

"Some markers match to a man named Brad Sanders. Convicted of a minor traffic offence in 2011."

Beth frowned. "That name sounds familiar."

"It is a little hard to tell due to a degradation, but it looks like the DNA is actually his brother's. I cheeked, Brad only has one brother. A younger brother. Kevin Sanders."

Beth's face lit up. "Now I know where I've heard it! On the news, right? A sex scandal."

"Yes. Penelope pulled out everything that she was able to find about that case." He sighed uneasily, thinking back to the information that he had heard. "Two years ago, fourteen years old Kevin Sanders confided to the police that Jeremy Annels, an owner and a manager of a local youth club, had been sexually abusing him for months. The medical examination confirmed the accusations. Jeremy was arrested and his home was searched. A shocking amount of child pornography was found. Once the news had spread, many other victims started coming forward. It turned out that he had been molesting dozens of boys over the span of twenty years. They all testified against him in court. He is currently serving a life sentence."

"As far as she's checked, Kevin is now alive and well, though now living in a different neighborhood. And at the time of the incident, Kevin was an active baseball player. Traces of soil found on the ball can be found in the area where the abuse happened. And get this: Michael had been staying in that area with his wife for two months in 2010, shortly before Jeremy reported the abuse, while their house was undergoing some pipe repair."

They both took a deep breath and looked helplessly through the interrogation room window, the case suddenly turning even more complicated.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I don't own any of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior characters and I am not making any money from writing this.**

 **Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.**

 **And so, we've reached the end... I hop** **e you enjoy it and thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing. The story is loosely inspired by a real life Charlie Brandt case but there are major differences. I decided to make Sam solve the case but still have Beth heavily involved in the investigation, I hope that's OK... I'm sorry if there hasn't been as much friendship/team dynamic in this story as you have wanted it but I may write another Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior fic soon.**

Sam and Mick looked around John Monk's office with an interest. There were several diplomas hanging on the walls and a big leather couch to the side. John smiled politely and quickly shook hands with them before sitting down.

Sam frowned. "What do you mean?"

John sighed and shifted in his chair. He took his eyeglasses off. "Look, Michael was... a mystery." Sam and Mick eyed him suspiciously. "We ran all the psych tests that we could on him. All CTR scans. He just kept saying that he felt a need to do it, but couldn't explain what exactly did he derive from murdering his adoptive father. Sexual gratification, thrill or something else. And he had never showed any direspect or resistence during his stay there."

"So you jusf let him go?", Mick asked, perplexed.

John looked at him, an almost pleading look on his face. "What else could I have done? He turned eighteen, as far as I and my colleagues had been able to determine during his stay there, there was nothing wrong with him, and according to the law, he couldn't be held accountable for his actions. Patients kept coming in. Much older and more violent people with diagnosable mental illnesses."

"And you can't disclose an actual documentation?", Sam checked.

"Not without his permission", John admitted.

#

Kevin was short and slim, but with some hidden muscles and pretty healthy looking, with short brown hair and brown eyes. He was pacing around the living room while his older brother, Brian, tall and buff, stepped forward protectively. The living room was large with nice big couch and plazma TV, French windows on the side wall providing a beautiful view to the yard. "Do we really have to go through all this again?", he protested while Kevin looked away. "My brother has suffered enough!"

Gina carefully thought about what to say while Sam simply pulled out his notepad and a pen. He tried to look understanding and sound calm.

"That creep is in prison now", Brian spat. "Case closed!"

"We don't know for sure does this have anything to do with Jeremy Annels", Gina said warmly, turning to look at Kevin. "What interests us is this baseball ball", she said before pulling it out of her pocket, still in the evidence bag, and showing it to the boy. He shuddered, suddenly pale in face: he then quickly tried to disguise his distress, but both Gina and Sam knew that he had seen it before.

"What about it?", Kevin asked as Brian was looking at him suspuciously.

"We found it in a possession of a murder suspect", Sam said, making Kevin gulp. "And we have the evidence that prove that it used to belong to you."

"Is this the truth, Kevin?"

Kevin slumped on the couch, his eyes watery. "Yes", he moaned. Brian slowly sat on the couch next to him and put his hand on Kevin's shoulder.

"It's OK", Gina assured Kevin, looking him in the eyes. "Tell us what happened."

"One time, it was really... brutal", Kevin said, avoiding to look at Gina... or anyone. "I ran outside, crying." He pressed his lips together, trying not to cry. "And I ran into that man."

Sam pulled out his smartphone, showing Kevin a recent photograph of Michael. "This one?"

Kevin nodded his head. "At first, I was afraid. Terrified. But... he hugged me. Not in a wrong way. It was friendly. Innocent. And we... we talked. I told him everything. I don't know why. I just couldn't take it anymore. But I didn't have the strength to report. And he didn't push me. We met up on a local baseball field a few times. Talked. I just knew his first name. Michael. And, eventually, he convinced me to report mr. Annels."

"He must have been very persuasive", Gina commented, sounding friendly.

For a moment, Kevin smiled. Sadly. "He... he cried. He told me that mr. Annels did the same thing to him, when he was a kid." He straightened in his spot. "The day before I turned mr. Annele in, I gave Michael my baseball ball. Something to remember me by." He looked up for a moment. "After talking to him, after finally deciding to report that guy, I finally came to enjoy playing baseball again." He sniffed and rubbed his eyes. "But Michael begged me not to tell anyone about him. So I didn't." He listed his head up. "But he could never murder anyone", he said determinently. "I believe that."

#

Beth walked into the interrogation room, closing the door behind, avoiding to face Michael who was sitting at the table as she sat opposite to him, once again weighing her decisions and tactic in her head. When she finally looked at that young man, she noticed that he was even more paler and apparently thinner, his hair a mess. "They said that they have evidence", he said, sounding scared. "That they will charge me."

Beth looked Michael in the eyes. "Jeremy Annels", she said, feeling her mouth go dry. Michael flinched, face turning pale. He tried to say something, but couldn't. He was just tired of everything.

It took all of Beth's strength to manage to say what had been haunting Michael for years. "He was abusing you too, wasn't he?"

Michael nodded his hand, starting to shake slightly. "Yes."

"You never reported him?", Beth asked carefully.

"He said that, if I will, he would send somebody to hurt my parents and my sister", Michael said as the tears build up in his eyes.

Several tense moments passed. Beth felt her gut wretch. "How long did that last?"

Michael took a deep breath. "Since January. He stopped in May, for about a month." He shrugged. "Maybe he got bored."

"That is why the examination you had undergone after the murder revealed no signs of sexual abuse", Beth said softly. "And why you had been odd, withdrawn in months prior."

Michael nodded his head, tears rolling down his face. "That day... he caught up with me... tried to molest me again. But I punched him and ran away. I knew that he wouldn't take that lightly... but I just had enough of all that. I think I saw one of his guys follow me around that day."

Beth waited for a few seconds, trying not to look at him.

"What happened that night?", she asked silently.

Michael looked up, a pained look on his face. "My father went to the store and I went to ma room. After a few minutes I... I heard some cracking sound...", he said, withholding a sob. "And some groaning... and the door opening... I panicked... thought it was... one of his henchmen. I took the gun... walked into the living room..." His lips writhed intona grimace. "I was so scared and confused...", he cried. "Walking slowly... a wind was blowing outside..." He took a deep breath. "I didn't recognized my dad at first. He mist have forgotten his wallet, came back. When I saw him there, I panicked and fired... shot him once in the stomach", he said, closing his eyes shut as he sobbed. The words were barely coming out. "I wanted to stop, but I felt like frozen... I shot again... and again... and again... once I got a hold of myself, it was too late."

Michael stopped, breathing heavily, drops of sweat rolling down his face and neck. Beth was looking around, trying not to cry. She shivered after noticing Michael's fists clenching.

"One of the symptoms of diabetes is that sometimes your fingers tingle. Writh. Especially when you are under stress. You seem to have that under control a lot now... but back then... sometimes things just go wrong and continue going in that direction."

Michael wiped away his tears. "I didn't tell anyone what happened, at first, because I didn't want him to send somebody over to hurt mom and Penny... I thought, if I give them the reason as to why I did it, I will get out sooner, because they wouldn't be wasting their time trying to find out why... I didn't really know what to say so I just kept saying that I felt a need to that." He exhaled, chill rushing through him. His upper lip quivered. "Then I met that boy. I eventually managed to convince him to turn that man in. And... not to mention me." He smiled sadly. "He gave me that ball. I kept it hidden so people wouldn't get the wrong ideas."

Beth glared at him. "Katy knew?"

"She knew everything", Michael said longingly.

"And Tracy?", Beth asked.

"Some of it."

"Once Jeremy was exposed, why didn't you come forward?", Beth asked, sounding confused.

"Who would believe me?", Michael said more than asked, matter of factly. "They would think that I am exploting a tragedy. I would only make it harder for the rest of the victims."

#

Katy looked almost embarraseed as she was sitting up in her bed, looking at her hands, opening them and closing them, opening them and closing them. She still looked weak, though with more color to his face. Sam sighed and Beth stood up.

"You should have told us, Katy", Beth said softly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Katy looked up at her, a shadow of both hope and fear appearing on her face. "Is Jeremy behind this?", she asked, slight tremors lingering to her tone.

Beth was about to shake her head, but she stopped herself. "No", she said silently. Katy's face fell and she looked away. "He and all of his henchmen are in prison, and none of them had any visitirs recently. And he couldn't have known that Michael helped the police to put him away."

"And the DA will charge Michael with murders", Katy exclaimed, her voice almost breaking.

"He will", Sam said, trying not to sound too stern. "But we will continue working on the case. And we will find the rea killer."

"And we will keep the police protection on, just in case", Beth's said.

"Great", Katy scoffed.

Beth walked closer to her. "It's a good thing. If somebody has really gone through such lengths to frame Michael, and he knows that you are alive, maybe... as horrifying as it sounds, maybe he will try to hurt you, but the police will be there and catch him. Or her. And our team is examing the photographs that that voyeur tools. Maybe there is something useful there."

Sam frowned. "And he would try to avoid the police protection... he would have to take a look out at the area." He searched his head. "And if he, or she, would have a job, now could be about the time they would do that." He widened his eyes Abd turned towards Beth. "Isn't there a park near the hospital?"

"Yes", Beth answered, confused. Sam pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?", she asked.

"Informing Propchet and Gina about something", he said, putting a phone on his ear. "And then I have to check my hypothesis."

#

Sam stepped outside and inhaled sharply. A smell of leaves and grass. Some flowers. Soon enough there will be none of those. The fall was dragging on.

And he was right. He knew who would be sitting on the bench near the entry way.

Penny Sky.

In a raincoat and with sunglasses on her face, pretending to look around, but that was her.

And he started walking towards her.

She tried looking away, but couldn't avoid his gaze on her. She almost got up to leave once, but remained sitting down.

Sam sat on the bench next to her and put his hands on his knees.

"You are waiting for the opportunity to sneak in?", he asked.

Penny tried to appear confident. "I have no idea what are you talking about."

"You wanted to kill Katy. And frame Michael. To complete your revenge plan. You had been stalking them, getting to know their habits. You even found out what kind of medicine your brother takes. That he usually has one pull in the morning and one before going to sleep. At one point, you managed to slip a key out of Katy's pocket and make an impression in the clay before putting the key back. You later used it to make a copy. You obtained a bottle of same pills your brother was taking. Probably a free sample from the hospital. You planted some sort of fast degrading sleeping medication in them. Probably barbiturates. You had all the elements needed, and eventually carried out your crime."

He waited for a reaction. When there was no significant one, he leaned back and fondled his hands together.

"You went inside through the back door that night, after sneaking off from the fundraiser, using a copy of the key. You had that protective clothing and gloves they often use in the hospitals on. Sometime prior, that afternoon, you sneaked in and replaced the bottle of your brother's pills in the bathroom cabinet with the one you had purchased. After going inside that night, you found the gloves and the booties, that you put over your own. You then went to the basement, took the screwdriver, went back outside, locked the door and broke in using the screwdriver. You went back inside, put the screwdriver in the basement, took the knife from the kitchen, went to the guest house, where you knew Tracy would be sleeping, and murdered her. You knew that such actions would be inconsistent with the intrude theory. That the police would suspect Michael."

He studied Penny's reaction. She flinched, sighed, but didn't speak up, didn't look horrified. She just continued staring blankly in front of herself. He knew that he got all of it right. So he continued.

"You killed Tracy first. Gome back inside. Katy noticed you, that is when you attacked Katy, viciously, with revenge on your mind", he said, his voice a mixture of passion and pity. He kept imagining the scene in his head. "You thought that she was dead. You left the knife on the floor. You took the protective clothing off and out it in a bag so you wouldn't leave a blood trail, and put on another pair. You then put the bloody gloves and booties and in the paper bag. You sneaked upstairs and took some of Michael's clothing, that you also put in the paper bag. You burned the bag in a fire pit in the backyard, using a match found in the kitchen. Once that was done, you put all the ashes in the bucket, put on a clean pair of gloves, went to the bathroom upstairs, flushed it down the toilet, and did your best to clean up the mess." He bit his lip. Penny squirmed. "You washed and dried the rest of Michael's clothing, leaving it in a laundry hamper. You took the bottle of insulin pills with you and put the original one back in the cabinet. And then you left, probably dumping the bag containg your gloves, booties and protective clothing in a river. You went back to the fundraiser, to establish your alibi. It would take you about forty five minutes."

It was then that Penny turned to face him, her facial expression the one of the spite rather than shock.

"You are crazy", she exclaimed, standing up. Sam locked eyes with her, then stood up, looking certain and firm.

"Really?", he exclaimed, glaring at Penny. "It is interesting that you say that now, but you didn't actually stop me when I flat out accused you. Or during this summation of mine. You knew that you were guilty and wanted to know how much I know."

Penny tried forming a smirk, her face pale. "You can't prove it. You can't prove a word of what you just said!"

"You think? We know that you have an access to an equipment that matches to the substance found under the victim's fingernails. And your alibi is not as strong as you thought."

"It's all circumstancial evidence." She tilted her head to the side. "And I am sure that more evidence point to Michael than me... am I right?"

Sam nodded his head. "In a way, yes. But you let out one obstacle."

"What?", she asked, trying to sound confident.

"Not what, who. A peeping tom active in the area at the time of the murder."

Penny widened her eyes. Sam continued.

"We know that he had nothing to do with the murders. But we also know that he was otherwise active that night. He took a lot of photographs around the neighborhood." He took a step closer. "Our team is going through them right now, examining every inch, every detail... the same with the ones taken before, because we know that you had been stalking them... do you honestly think that you were so lucky that he never, not even once, took a photograph of your car or you in the background?"

Penny gulped and clenched his fists. Sam put a hand on his holster.

"And once we obtain a warrant-and we will-we'll have our expert examine your phone. You probably took some notes while stalking them. Some photographs as well. I'm sure you did your best to delete it all. But you've never met Penelope."

"You're bluffing", Penny whispered.

"Am I?", Sam teased. Penny turned away, hearing the sound of an approaching car. She felt her heart skip a beat, chill going through her body, upon noticing two police cars driving towards the park. She turned to meet Sam's eyes, a look on her face almost pleading. He still had a hand on his holster, but knew that no gun would be necessary.

"If I were you, I wouldn't try to put up a fight. You've suffered enough already. And you will again, soon. Only this time, it will be deservedly so."

Penny slumped on the bench as a tear rolled down her face. She stared blankly in front of herself.

"It is over, Penny", Sam said and sat back on the bench next to her. "It's over."

#

Katy finished her bowl of cereal and moved the tray away, lying back in her bed and looking tiredly through the window. First morning sun beams reflected on the glass.

She shuddered upon hearing a footsteps near by, and straightened herself up, turning to see the man standing at the doorway.

"Michael!", she exclaimed, a smile finally appearing on her face.

Michael rushed over to her and hugged her, though carefully due to her injuries. She put her hands on his back as he laid his head on her shoulder, tears in his eyes.

Beth smiled slightly and crossed her arms over her chest as she observed them, suddenly feeling some... closure.

#

Penny gritted her teeth, sitting on her bunk, slightly pale and dressed in an orange jumpsuit. The whole building was silent, exept for an occasional blood quirling cry or chillingly cold order being issued. She was holding a letter in her hands, her eyes skimming quickly over the lines.

 _I can't stress enough how sorry I am. But your rejection still hurts. Maybe one day you will understand. Maybe I will be able to explain. And we will be a family again. We have so much to catch up. I just want to see your face again, hear your voice, hug you. Tell you that I am sorry._

Penny sobbed, tears streaming down her face, and put a letter away, on the top of the dozen others, as she buried her face in her hands, alone in her small, cold jail cell.

#

Beth sighed as she sat at her desk. It still felt weird to be back to the headquarters after all that had happened. She pulled her laptop lid up and didn't even notice Mick walking by. She shivered upon hearing him groan.

"Well... that was crazy, right?", he commented somewhat awkwardly.

"Right", Beth agreed.

Mick smiled slightly. "No hard feelings?", he asked, sounding almost apologetic.

Beth returned the smile. "No hard feelings."

Mick smiled again before walking away.

Beth had been looking after him for some time before she turned to look at the screen and started typing.

~THE END~


End file.
